Louisville City FC midfielder Niall McCabe made his big announcement in December.

He started with a thank you to the club, which he's been a part of since 2015. Then he moved to the fans, reveling in the memories, including back-to-back United Soccer League championships. Next, it was time for his "new adventure."

"So it is with a heavy heart that I must announce that I will be beginning a new career on Red Dead Redemption 2 for the foreseeable future," McCabe wrote on Twitter, referring to the video game.

Jokes aside, the 28-year-old Ireland native is indeed back for Louisville City in 2019. He'll start the USL season Saturday as one of two players remaining from the club's inaugural team. He's the only player who has never left.

He's had a front-row seat to the ebbs and flows. Ebbs being his teammates leaving for opportunities in MLS. Flows being the front office's growth as club leaders say they're hoping to continue to grow by investing in the community.

McCabe, too, wouldn't be opposed to a move to a higher level. But at least for the time being, he's focused on his role on a team hoping for a third-straight championship.

"I’ve seen a lot of players come through. Some are still playing and some have moved on to the next level, which is great," McCabe said. "I wish I was one of them, but until that day comes, I don’t think there’s a better team to be at then Louisville City."

From Ireland to Georgia to Kentucky

McCabe's first taste of the United States came in the mountains of north Georgia.

He made the move from his hometown in Dublin to play soccer at Young Harris College. At a school of just over 1,000, he was a star, tallying 32 goals and 31 assists in four seasons.

That productivity was enough to catch the eye of another Dublin native, James O'Connor. Louisville City's first coach signed McCabe prior to the 2015 season, the team's first after moving from Orlando.

"I was just thrilled to be able to play professional soccer," McCabe said. "Coming here from where I was in college, a really small, rural, part of North Georgia, this is great."

In his first four professional seasons, he's scored goals, including a brace in the playoffs last year. He has battled injuries, missing the bulk of his second season after hip surgery. And he's made history, becoming the first Louisville player to reach 100 appearances.

Then there were the changes. The first player to move up was midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye, who signed with MLS' Los Angeles FC in 2018. Next was O'Connor, who took assistant coach Daniel Byrd and goalkeeper coach Thabane Sutu with him to Orlando City SC.

This offseason, the team lost four more. Goalie Greg Ranjitsingh and defender Kyle Smith followed O'Connor to Orlando, and leading goal-scorer Cameron Lancaster, a forward, signed an MLS contract with Nashville. Midfielder Ilija Illic, who was McCabe's teammate at Young Harris College, left for Indy Eleven, a fellow USL club.

"You kind of want them to leave, if they're going to MLS or something bigger," McCabe said. "But then again, they're your pals, so you miss certain things they brought to the team, not just on the field, you miss what they brought to the locker room. But that’s soccer."

Unlike his former teammates, McCabe will be in Louisville through at least 2020 after signing a two-year contract — unless another team comes calling. He called his decision to stay a "no-brainer."

"If you’re not going to the MLS, I think with this stadium and this team that we have, I don’t think there’s a better team to win championships with than Louisville City," McCabe said.

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Louisville City FC's future stadium site will feature office, retail and hotel space. The site in Butchertown includes and surrounds the former Challenger Lifts Inc. site at 200 Cabel St. Architecture firm HOK designed the 10,00-seat stadium. Courtesy of Louisville City FC

Louisville City FC's future 10,000-seat stadium is planned for Butchertown. The site will include retail, office and hotel space. Architecture firm HOK is responsible for the design and renderings. Courtesy of Louisville City FC

The future Louisville City FC stadium will be situated on 40 acres of land in Butchertown, including the former Challenger Lifts Inc. site at 200 Cabel St., as well as adjacent plots previously occupied by Marshall's Auto Parts, Extra Space Storage and an above-ground oil tank facility. Courtesy of Louisville City FC

The future Louisville City FC stadium will be situated on 40 acres of land in Butchertown, including the former Challenger Lifts Inc. site at 200 Cabel St. The stadium will open in 2020. Courtesy of Louisville City FC

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Butchertown stadium

Louisville City president Brad Estes watched intently as a crane lifted a steel beam high into the sky above a construction site in Butchertown.

"We find that there are so many different milestones because we’re like proud parents. But that’s a big milestone to get structural steel coming out of the ground," he said.

The 35-acre site just south of the Big Four Bridge is the linchpin of Louisville City's future. The $193.1 million project features a soccer-specific stadium, as well as retail and office space around the stadium.

"Until we have our own stadium, we’re really not a sustainable organization," Estes said. "Once we do, we’ll be able to benefit from all those revenue streams and be able to be a sustainable organization."

The stadium is slowly coming together. The suites are in, some brick work is done, and the wall in front of the future supporters section is up. Estes said there's traction on filling the surrounding space but nothing he can publicly share yet.

The stadium is on track to open in late March 2020, right around the start of the next USL season. The projected capacity has grown a bit to 11,400 seats, with additional space for up to 2,000 general admission seats.

The team has 5,000 season-ticket holders for the upcoming season, 50 percent more than where it was at this point a year ago.

Louisville City is hoping to reach 7,000 this season. And then have 85 percent of the 11,400 seats designated for season-ticket holders when the new stadium opens.

While the stadium is the crown jewel of Louisville City's future, it's just one piece of a larger emphasis on investing in the community.

A rendering of the new Louisville CIty FC stadium.(Photo: Provided by Louisville City FC)

Perhaps the next-biggest move was the hire of Mario Sanchez, a former Louisville Cardinals assistant, as the team's director of youth development and community relations. In basic terms, his job is to grow soccer locally.

In his first few months, Sanchez has already helped build soccer fields at William Harrison Park, met with students at Roosevelt Perry Elementary and brought a Power Soccer team under the Louisville City name.

"We want to spread the love of soccer to everyone. We want to make sure that those that in the past haven’t had access to it will have to access to play soccer. And ultimately our goal is to have folks from every part of our region playing soccer such so they can play on our first team," Estes said.

The new season

Heading into the 2019 season, Louisville City head coach John Hackworth admits he feels like the 2018-19 New England Patriots.

After seven-straight seasons in the AFC Championship Game, four Super Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl wins, the Patriots went into the most-recent NFL season reloaded but with little respect. They ended up winning the Super Bowl.

"I don’t mean that in a cocky way," Hackworth cautioned. He made that statement after crediting several Eastern Conference teams, such as Indy Eleven and Nashville SC, for their big offseasons.

Even with the increased competition, Hackworth still has high expectations for his team in his first full season as manager.

He said despite four-straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals, and two-straight USL Cup titles, he's still able to "stoke the fire" and push his team. That was evident in the preseason, when Hackworth said his team was able to learn four different tactical systems.

Hackworth is most excited about the team's depth.

"Right now I feel like I can start two different teams and not lose much of a beat at all," he said.

He named Luke Spencer, who scored the game-winning goal in last year's USL Cup, and free agent signing Lucky Mkosana as the two to get a shot at target forward. And Shaun Francis, Oscar Jimenez and Pat McMahon will play right back for Smith.

CLOSE

Louisville City FC player Oscar Jimenez and Luke Spencer talk about the upcoming season and what it will take to win a third consecutive championship.
Michael Clevenger, Louisville Courier Journal

Hackworth said the biggest question is at goalkeeper. Tim Dobrowolski, who was the backup a year ago, will get the first crack at the starting job. He'll be pushed by Ben Lundt, on loan from MLS' FC Cincinnati. Lundt played college soccer with Hackworth's son at Akron. Hackworth called him their No. 1 offseason target.

Ultimately, Hackworth said his team will be pushed by the success of their former teammates as "they have aspirations" to join them at the next level.

And then there's McCabe, who Hackworth said continues to "play all kind of roles." He'll initially be tasked as one of the players tasked with replacing Illic in the attacking midfielder role.